Happy Birthday Facebook

It’s been 10 years since Facebook changed the way we use the Internet.

“Today people have shared the birth of their first child, wedding, hooked up, broke up, mourned, outed themselves, said something dumb, said something profound, confessed that life’s got too hard for them, been brought back from the brink by a friend, or a stranger, found a job, posted something that lost them their job, learned a fact that will save their life one day, found their new favourite song, and hit ‘like’ on a cat picture – all on Facebook.” – – According to Facebook’s communication manager Iain Mackenzie.

This is exactly why Facebook endures. We are curious. We want to know what people are up to and we want others to know the details of our lives.

Businesses may not be using Facebook for the big and little details of one’s personal life but they’ve jumped on the bandwagon to socialize, share knowledge, meet their customers, make new customers and satisfy their curiousity when it comes to their competition.

Those businesses who do Facebook right are doing it for more than an increase in search engine positioning or referral visits to their website; they are doing it to get to know their market, personally.

They are conducting market research by asking questions.

They are holding contests to increase awareness.

They are sharing knowledge.

They are posting videos.

They are sharing photographs.

They are replying to posts.

As Facebook turns 10, the big question is whether Facebook will survive another 10 years? Facebook has taught us to care about our online connections. It has taught us to feed our curiousity by connecting with friends, coworkers, family members and even strangers. Whether or not Facebook sees a 20th birthday celebration one thing remains – Social networking in some form or another surely is here to stay.